out of the running

my first jab at running was a practice run at up diliman. it was just before the recent craze for running events peaked and i wasn't into it enough to finish an entire lap. then like zits on my face 15 years ago, running events sprouted everywhere. even my small college had one and that was my first ever official run.

my run wont be a finalist in the best first run ever award if there was one. i basically jogged a fourth of that 3k run then walked the rest. then right after the run me and my friends went straight to rodic's for their famous tapsilog. we were starving after that run walk. after feeling guilty of eating my run away with that sweet tapsilog, i vowed to live the healthy life and try to join more runs (and actually run) in the future.


the following months was an excuseathon. i was running away from running. it costs too much, i have stuff to do that day, it's too early, getting out of bed is hard, i have no one to run with, i think my water just broke, common but fairly acceptable excuses. then a few months later, i commissioned a company sponsorship for a running event, miles for smiles. it was for a good cause, our company got some exposure and they gave us free entries. free stuff rocks!


i was ready for the run, complete with new running shoes and a few days on the stationary bike. the gun went off. from 3k now i'm trying to conquer 5k. i was with my girlfriend and a couple of friends who ran at cruisin' speed. cruisin' speed meaning walking, short jog, then walk again. with one last kilometer remaining i ran my ass off and left them. i politely asked permission from my gf of course, didn't wanna start a war. zing!

i made good time and that rfid tag by runningmate was great. when they emailed me my time, i wanted to run again just to beat it. i looked for my next running event and got my eyes hooked on that mcdo run. the free happy meal took me. by this time my girlfriend is now in palawan but i want to run so bad that i tried to register alone. a was about to pay for my registration online when i found out that there were no singlets nor rfid's for the run. (insert sad trombone sound clip here).

i tried to look for other events but sadly they were too expensive or the registration closed. later on i stumbled upon the pasig river run which was just 3 days away during that time. they extended their registration so did some research to have a feel if this could be my next run.

after finding out they were offering free lrt rides, my interest in that run snowballed. there were singlets and rfid's. i believe this is it. the logistics however was a deal breaker.

digging for some more info i found the race map for the 5k run. it starts from Pedro Gil and ends in SM Mall of Asia. with no package counters i would then have to run with a backpack with my things or run with no bag and go home, ride the lrt a smelly runner, tank top still wet with sweat. then i thought i could borrow my dad's car, park it on pedro gil, run to MOA then... wait... how do i go back to the car? this is too much thinking for a run.

still, i tried to register on the last day at SM North EDSA but the line was long and the racks that were supposed to be full of singlets were empty. i think it was the universe saying it wasn't really the run for me.

i'm still out of the running but hopefully i could find a run that i like and have my running shoes feel the asphalt again.